I thought the hair was good on Lincecum.. added to his coolness, along with his delivery..
Crawford really saved it with that catch, but part of me wished he let it go over so Pap could be embarrassed.. or the game could be the least bit more interesting. The ASG & Hr Derby this year turned out to be not much to talk about.. especially compared with last year’s..
Two long off days before the second half race for October begins..
– V [ http://flairforthedramatic.mlblogs.com ]

I am a Lincecum fan, so whatever works for him is fine by me. I’ll forgive the HBP on DJ. A Yankee save of a Red Sox win…that’s a strange sight. Of course, the Red Sock won, in part, because of two Yankee runs scored. Well, back to business…73 games to go, mission – win four more games than Boston and keep distance from Rays and Jays. Go Yanks!

I’m sure you’re already well aware of this but your blog is awesome. It’s the first thing I read after getting to work (I should probably start doing work..) and you made me chuckle and everyone stared (no one in law enforcement likes to laugh) :] Anyway, I agree with all of your points especially 1, 6 and 7. I’m not a Yankee fan but I do have endless respect and love for Jeter which sparked some anger in me when Lincecum decided to hit him. Rude!

Jane,
Tell me we might have just seem the first sign of the end of the world as we know it.
A Red Sox was happy that a Ray caught a ball, and a Yankee closed it all out for a Red Sox to win the game.
Sure sign of dogs and cats living together………..mass hysteria.
Truly, again last night I enjoyed seeing you up on the Twitter trend. I know the game was not to your liking, but it did have some great Yankee moments in it.
Of course for you had to watch the beginning and then wait until the ninth to see Mo to get the essence of the moment for the pinstripes.
I might not have been an offensive explosion, lacked finesse at time, but it again puts the AL in the driver’s seat for the World Series.
But the best thing of the whole night was the fact AL Manager Joe Maddon had a wild smile on his face after that last out.

I wonder if in his mind he was fantasizing about having a sure-fire closer like Mo.

V, I know Lincecum is a great pitcher, but he hit Jeter on the hand. Luckily, Jeet is fine. But can you imagine the outcry if he landed on the DL to start the second half? Ouuuwww.

Is it really only 73 games to go, Scott? That sounds like so few and makes me very sad. It seems as if we were all just saying how excited we were that the season was finally starting. Ah, well. Onward!

Good job by Adam Jones, Cal. You must have been cheering!

Thanks for the compliment, diamondgirl. Much appreciated. I’m glad I discovered your blog yesterday and will be back. You must have been excited that your Mariners star, Ichiro, led things off last night with that nice, crisp single! P.S. Just read your P.S. I really hope you get a kick out of the book!

Yes, we need to rest up for the games ahead, Julia. No question that the fans get run down during the season too!

Jen, I’ve been thinking about the second half and what I foresee happening. But it’s all so predicated on who stays healthy, who comes back from the DL, who gets hot, who makes mid-season trades, etc. Obviously, I hope the Yankees will have a great second half, but….

I did like the fact that Jeter opened the scoring and Mo closed the game. Nice symmetry to that, Matthew.

Dogs and cats living together. LOL, Renegade. It did feel like that at times last night. Thanks to Maddon for making the right call on Mo for the 9th. I appreciated that. I’m sure a lot of managers have fantasized about having a closer like him. What an asset.

‘Nuff said is right, raysfanboy. The AL has become so dominant it’s almost pre-ordained that they’ll win it every year. I know the streak will be broken – maybe even as early as next year – but it’s been quite a run.

Ah yes, Miz J — once again, you have distilled the grapes of the game into a fine wine (or whine, for the NLers — sorry Kylie, but remember, we ALers had just as long a drought, way back in the day)…yes, Prez’dent O did throw rather effeminately (and short)…yup, Jeet’s HBP was scary, and I wanted to Yank Lincecum down by his hair if it was serious! As the ball went deep deep deep off Papelbum, I had the thought-flash of how “apropos” it’d be if the Hosehead WS Express was slightly derailed by their own reliever, but nope, Ray to the rescue. Now, just keep Roy H. out of the clutches of Boston, and maybe we’ll have an exciting stretch drive…but can we hope for at least another first round of Angels-Bosox, so that ONE of them will be knocked out early…?!?

To sort of elaborate on what Scott said: A BoSock got the win because a Ray totally bailed him out. Yeah, the Yankee run definitely helped, but that ball (and the winning run) was headed over the fence. To his credit though, Papelbon seemed to acknowledge that Crawford saved his butt. This was probably one of the best All-Star Games in the past five years or so. Something interesting actually happened for once, and it didn’t take all night!-Erinhttp://plunking-gomez.mlblogs.com

I don’t know what to hope for during this stretch drive, Dave. Well, except that the Yankees play well, of course. Our division is so tough that all we can do is concentrate on our own team and win one game at a time. (Don’t I sound rational this morning?)

You’re right about the briskness of the game, Erin – especially in contrast to the rather ponderous pre-game festivities on Fox. It was well managed (although quite a few players didn’t get into the game) and didn’t last all night. I was sure we were headed for extra innings, but we were spared.

Hahaha, loved your entry! It made me laugh. Especially about your “internal wrath.” I understand how you feel in a way. When one of the Indians gets hit with a pitch, you should see the look on my face! :} It’s quite an evil stare, if you ask me. http://tribechick.mlblogs.com/

Yeah, I know! I was like “are you kidding?” Oh well, it was still great to watch. & Yeah, when are you going to see those two congratulate eachother & even hug eachother? Not often, I found it quite awesome. 🙂 Aww, I totally understand the screaming & evil stares! http://tribechick.mlblogs.com/

I thought this was a very entertaining game. By the way, I think Jeter was faking being hit on the hand. If you look and listen he shows no signs of pain at all, and you hear a loud thunk. My guess is that the ball hit the knob of the bat and Jeter sold it. So Linececum is forgiven.

Albert caught Obama’s pitch in the air, though he did have to step forward a bit to ensure that that would happen. I thought of you when Jeter got hit. Thank the baseball gods for protective armor.
–Jeffhttp://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/

screw the Yankees. Jeter didn’t get touched by that ball and he knew it, but he had to act hurt and make everybody feel sorry for him just so he could get a free base – IN AN EXHIBITION GAME. Quit acting and swing the bat Jeter.

As for this crap about the yankees acquiring Carl Crawford, I think I would puke if it happened. Crawford is too good a player to be a Yankee. It seems like everytime a player gets National attention the Yankees fans start acting like they NEED him. Look, you guys already the most hated team in sports, and if you can’t win by buying guys like Sabathia, Teixeira, and Burnett, then maybe you just can’t win at all. Lay off of Crawford, grow your own talent.

Perhaps you misinterpreted my “Carl Crawford can play for my team any day” comment, jonnnnnn. Or maybe you’re just having a bad afternoon. Either way, while I’d love to have an athlete as talented as Crawford, I wasn’t advocating a trade or signing. That said, I covet all good players for my team. It’s called fantasy baseball.